Microsoft is warning a bug in the latest versions of Windows could result in data loss when combined with some newer PCs.

Microsoft has issued a knowledge base article detailing possible data loss issues as a result of the latest Vector Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The impacted hardware will have either AES XEX-based tweaked-codebook mode with ciphertext stealing (AES-XTS) or AES with Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) (AES-GCM).

The company says a recent change in Windows caused the issue.

We added new code paths to the Windows 11 (original release) and Windows Server 2022 versions of SymCrypt to take advantage of VAES (vectorized AES) instructions. SymCrypt is the core cryptographic library in Windows. These instructions act on Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) registers for hardware with the newest supported processors.

Microsoft recommends customers upgrade to the latest preview releases.

To prevent further data damage, we addressed this issue in the May 24, 2022 preview release and the June 14, 2022 security release. After applying those updates, you might notice slower performance for almost one month after you install them on Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11 (original release).

To prevent further data damage, we addressed this issue in the May 24, 2022 preview release and the June 14, 2022 security release. After applying those updates, you might notice slower performance for almost one month after you install them on Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11 (original release).

More information can be found here.